Having read through a number of recent threads, it's clear that some homeschool materials are more popular than others. In your view, which are the three most popular course books used for middle and high school ages? As a followup question (if you don't mind), would you see any value in being able to access online quizzes associated with each chapter of those books? What about a self-study for the book as a whole, with quizzes and projects to supplement each chapter? Or a guided study, in which you lead/tutor your own child as s/he works through each chapter? As you've probably guessed, we're going to populate our website with these items, similar to the online quizzes, studies, and course we built for Apologia Physical Science. I want to be sure, though, that we build supplemental material around the most popular homeschooling books - so we won't be wasting our time. Thanks for your thoughts and ideas.
Some books that I looked online for quizzes and lesson plans were... Pippi Longstocking A Bridge to Teribithia Cheaper by the Dozen Tom Sawyer Alice in Wonderland Hatchet Mr. Poppers penguins Mrs. Piggle Wiggle All the Percy Jackson books. (Someday, I might write a Unit Study on these...we so got into Western Civ and Greek Mythology above and beyond, because of these books.) We did a bit of Geography (followed Percy on a map) And talked about economies and currency too.
The Hobbit, Mark Twain books, Shakespeare stuff, Sherlock Holmes, The Hiding place; I've been writing study questions already for these books for next year and it is taking me forever.
I love your posts, Steve. I just love your manner and how you ask questions. My oldest is 12. So, she will be my first experience in teaching a junior high schooler. I saw in one of your other posts that you also have a 12 year old girl. You could probably help me out! Anyway, the quizzes and self study for this age group would be AMAZINGLY helpful. One, because my daughter loves the student driven approach, as she thinks she knows everything. Two, because this is crunch time and I want to be sure she is being well prepared for high school. To the first question: No clue...I'm a newbie in this age group, so I look forward to reading the answers.
Thanks for everyone's feedback. It looks like literature is one area to consider. For science, we're building items around Apologia's books for now. Are there others you would suggest? What about for history or health or math?
I love history...but I'm not sure I'd focus on that. Honestly, I think more homeschoolers ask the questions about math and science. I would focus a bit on those subjects. I know many use Saxon math...Singapore...Teaching Textbooks... Apologia is christian based...and even Christians often use secular science. Try and find a secular one also to put on there. Sorry I have no suggestions...just learning myself. lol.
One good series to use for U.S. History could be "The History of Us" by Joy Hakin. I love reading these books and I am going to eventually buy the ones I don't have. For math, Teaching Textbooks might be a good one. I like these books, but lately my "love" for them is waning a bit. I say that because he focuses on weird stuff sometimes, so I am not sure if I am going to use it for Algebra of not (we are using pre-algebra). I like the spiral approach and I don't like the spiral approach. I think it helps the student remember the past stuff, but it leaves little room to master the new stuff.
Were reading Black Beauty, Farmer Boy and The Barn by AVI. Younger age group...but are there quizzes somewhere....we've just been doing written and oral narration
Let's take this series as an example, then. What online support tools would really help? - A quiz associated with each chapter to ensure the child understands the material. (There'd be a large test bank of questions so the child can take the quiz many times and see different questions on each attempt. There'd also be hints and full explanations of each correct answer.) - A semester-long self-study in which, for each lesson, the child must complete a reading assignment and take a quiz. - A guided study that would allow you, as parent and instructor, to guide your child (and potentially other children) through the study. (For some lessons, the student may need to upload a written report for grading or answer essay-style questions.) - A general discussion area (similar to these forums) where your child can discuss the reading material with other children reading the same book. - A virtual classroom in which your child interacts with other children, completing projects and quizzes and so on but also discussing the book with others to gain a more thorough understanding. And let me not just put ideas in your mind. I'd rather you put ideas in mine. What online support tools would enhance the learning experience as your child completed one of "The History of Us" series?
I think the chapter quizzes would be a good idea. The chapters are very short, so it may work better to combine three chapters at a time. The discussion area is also an excellent idea. That way they can learn just by discussing. This would also help develop critical thinking skills, because surely not everyone is going to think alike.
What about doing an online quiz and discussion based on video or DVD's for history. We just finished up WW2 and there were some great DVD's that we watched. It would have been really neat to have been able to watch a video on say the Navaho Code Talkers then taken a quiz about that video. For kids who are visual learners the quizzes would be a great reinforcement. And most of the DVD's we watched were through Netflix and the library. So an online quiz and discussion would have been a very cost effective teaching tool. Marty
This doesn’t answer your original question, but how about tackling the topic of grammar? Complete course/instruction would be a serious undertaking, but even a limited focus on common errors (fragments; s-v agreement; pronoun usage; there, their, and they’re; to, two, too; etc.) would be useful to many people.
We have been using The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer and have found it to be wonderful while the kids are young, but will require a lot more work from me as they get older. (you are supposed to go through the books several times and make the activities harder each time, but the activity book is geared mainly for the younger kids) I would love extra help with activities to go with them when they are older.
You have great ideas. One thing that I think my child misses most being homeschooled is the interaction with other students who are learning the same stuff. That is why I like the discussion forum idea and possibly the virtual classroom. The book series History of US would be a good series. I am planning on using this series next year and buying Sonlight teacher's manual mainly for the questions.
OK. Never one to be hesitant, I've contacted the author of "The History of Us" to see whether she'd be willing to let us build online materials to supplement her books. I'll let you know whether I hear anything back.
There is already a great set of lesson plans, quizes and worksheets to go with the History of US books, as is there most things "curriculum".
They already have someone out there that has these. They are called the blackline masters. Now they are not online, but have everything everyone is asking about.
